Gender

Egypt: Women Under 40 Forbidden to Book Rooms

Tamer Mawafi

What an Egyptian woman under 40 experiences when being refused a hotel room goes well beyond merely being disqualified. It places her in a frame that assumes that being away from her male guardian will inevitably turn her into a “prostitute.”

Egypt: The Brazilian Pervert and the Papyrus Girl

Eman Adel

The video of a Brazilian traveler harassing a veiled Egyptian girl has caused a furor on social media, and reignited the debate about the male orientalist gaze fetishizing Arab women.

Adieu to Developing Feminisms but Not to Being a Feminist

Dr. Maitrayee Mukhopadhyay

Feminisms in development is alive and well and it is in the hands of the future generation. They are making all the difference in local struggles and making new meaning for the futures of feminism in development.

Palestine: As Israa, so Rana was killed to “honor” family and clan

Linda Maher

Rana Al-Haddad has joined the long caravan of victims, whose families took away their right to live, as part of a culture that discriminates against women, and even enables killing them under the feeblest of pretexts.

Egypt: A Thousand Eyes are Watching Any Woman Living Alone

Marwa Alsawwaf

The recent killing of a young female doctor in Cairo was no incident. It was an extreme yet logical consequence of a Stasi-like system of 1,000 eyes, in which doormen and neighbors serve as moral watchdogs over any woman who dares living alone.

“Look, it’s the perfect size: it fits in the hands of an honest man.”

Tracy Jawad

Camille had a breast reduction for medical reasons. The surgeon promised her a “harmonious look,” yet she ended up with “breasts that no longer look like breasts.” A story about medical malpractice, and not having a legal foot to stand on.

A Jinni Killed Israa Gharib!

Linda Maher

In August 2019 the horrifying murder of Israa Gharib outraged Palestinians. In February 2021, they were outraged again as a judge released the main suspects on bail.

Yemen : Terrifying Crimes Targeting Women Shake Country to the Core

Safia Mahdi

The one maimed by acid. The other burnt alive. Two recent crimes targeting Yemeni women raise the issue of domestic violence in the war-torn country.

Lebanese Legislators: All But Prostitution…!

Maya El Ammar

On December 21st, 2020, Lebanese legislators chose to reinforce and multiply the oppression of women exploited in the sex industry, prohibited by Lebanese law, and reassert the equal treatment of both the exploited and their exploiters, in the benefit of sex buyers who are still, for the vast majority, male consumers exempted of any legal or moral responsibility.

Iraqi Women Shackled by Archaic Personal Status Laws

Zainab Al Mshat

In case of adultery, Iraqi judges will be satisfied with a phone message or voice call as evidence of a wife’s betrayal. Yet, when the husband is concerned, they require the wife to produce four witnesses …